Polish Lunch

Hearty portions at Crocus

ThePoles
poured into Milwaukee during the late 19th century and afterward, settling on the city’s South Side where industry flourished and factory
jobs were plentiful. Before long, Polish-American business districts
sprang up with shops, bakeries and restaurants catering to the tastes
of the immigrants and their children.

As
recently as 20 years ago, at least four Polish restaurants were still
open in Milwaukee. Now there are just two, Polonez and Crocus.

Although
most of the South Side’s Polish-American population moved farther south
and west to the suburbs after the 1970s, Crocus clings to its urban
address. The rambling building includes a bar to the side and a hall
for receptions in back. The dimly lit dining room is reminiscent of Old
Milwaukee restaurants with narrow booths along one wall and a plethora
of metal-legged, upholstered chairs around the Formica tables covered
with white linen. The walls are decorated with woven efforts at folk
art, platters emblazoned with the Polish eagle and other ethnic
knickknacks.

Crocus is nothing fancy in appearance, but the
food is good and the service is friendly. As with most restaurants,
regardless of ethnicity or cuisine, lunch is a good time to find
bargains.

When in Polonia, why not eat Polish? The ethnic end
of Crocus’ lunch menu offers solid value, with prices starting at $6.50
for the dessert-like blintzes filled with either cherries or cheese and
going no higher than $8.50 for a veal cutlet. Polish food is hearty
fare and the portions, even at lunchtime, are likewise. Characteristic
of the Polish offerings is the krokiety ($6.75), a thinly layered but
massively proportioned crepe stuffed with mushrooms and sweet cabbage.

As
in many ethnic restaurants, there are adaptations to American tastes.
Keeping company with the strictly Yankee items on the menu’s American
side is the tasty Polish hamburger ($6.50), covered in mushrooms and a
brown sauce.

If Friday means fish, then Crocus is also a good
place for lunch on the final day of the workweek. Choose between baked
or fried cod ($8.95) or perch ($10.95). The fried cod is excellent in
its light breading. All of the fish entrees are tender and white, with
none of the rubbery gray texture that signals a restaurant cutting
corners to save costs. The fish is served with coleslaw and choice of
french fries or a pair of more Polish options, boiled potatoes or
potato pancakes.

All lunches come with a bread basket and the
soup of the day, which at recent visits was either a peppery cheese and
broccoli or minestrone ladled with carrots, tomatoes, potatoes and
other vegetables. Along with Old World charm, Crocus offers another
asset not always provided by restaurants nowadays: The food is served
piping hot.